William Wendt’s iconic oil painting lead Bonhams auction of California & Western Paintings & Sculpture, scheduled for 28 April, in Los Angeles. Wendt’s ‘The Old Coast Road’ (c. 1916), is estimated to bring $400,000 – 600,000. The painting graces the cover of the best-known book on California Impressionism, Plein Air Painters of California: The Southland by Ruth Westphal. It is arguably the most famous California painting in private hands.
Other plein-air works of note in the auction include At Annondale (Wildflowers near Pasadena) by Guy Rose, which is estimated at $150,000-250,000, an exceptionally large canvas by Edgar Payne, Surging Sea, estimated at $150,000-250,000, and William Wendt’s Misty Morning, Santa Ana Canyon, (1928), estimated at $60,000-80,000.
Further highlights include with Alison Skinner Clark’s oil on canvas, Blue mountain (1925), estimated at $20,000-30,000, Jack Wilkinson Smith’s colorful Sunshine through the oaks, estimated at $25,000-35,000, and Alligator Head, La Jolla by Alfred R. Mitchell, estimated at $8,000-12,000.
Several important Western works will also feature, ranging from the early Taos School painters to the more modern interpreters such as Ed Mell.
